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Possible but not cost effective, I'm not about to pay for hundreds of gigabytes just use an iPad, when my laptop or iMac can do it so much better without the added cost.

Desktop/laptop/external storage is free?
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I don't know. I use office on my iPad & while the apps are great, they are definitely limited in what they can do & not really just advanced layout work. Things like building a table of contents aren't supported on the app. These aren't the types of things that I'd consider advanced work. I love the iPad office apps & use them all the time, but they definitely work best in conjunction with, rather than as a replace for, the mac/windows apps.

This is a limitation of MS Word for iOS, not the iPad itself. For more complex long form writing, you can use other apps like Scrivener.
 
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For me it comes down to multitasking and file management. The ability to run multiple apps, downloads in the background is extremely important for me. As is the access to a real file-manager that allows me to mount not only all of my remote storage, but my cloud services as well and under a single view, app. So I use an Android tablet for work because it offers not only that what was mentioned but the full power of Linux, something that is simply not available in iOS as of yet. I however use an iPad Pro 12.9" for music creation, photo management, video, games, etc. Both platforms have their advantages in which I use to their fullest, so stating that one is better than other is just simply ridiculous to me, both are equa in value in my eyes.

It's the same with my laptop's, I have a MacBook 12" for when I need an Ultra portable and a Razor Blade for when I need a work machine. Why didn't I go for the MacBook Pro, well, I got almost twice the machine for a whole lot less money with the Razor, as well as an external GPU, all for about the same price. Plus, here's the kicker, I'm still able to run OSX and very well I might add, like I can't tell the difference from an actual Macbook well.

I like Apple goods but they are definitely pricy for what you are getting, especially their phones, which is something I simply will never, ever buy form them. I'm sorry but paying almost a grand for a 750p, which isn't even OLED, let alone AMOLED, with a glass that will crack if you look at it funny, 25% of all iPhones have a cracked screen (2016 insurance survey), no SD Card with internal storage price jumps that are astronomicaly high (it costs Apple $10 to go from 32GB to 128GB), no audio jack, no removeable battery, useless NFC support, the OS is still wwwwaaaayyyy to restrictive for my liking, etc., etc.
 
For me it comes down to multitasking and file management.
That's a good point, I can easily multitask on my iMac then what my iPad offers. At times I need to a virtual machine up, remote access to servers, Safari, and acrobat. I frequently cut/paste among those open apps as I get my work done.
 
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Right, and that storage wasn't free, you paid for it in the purchase price. And doubling the storage on most MacBooks costs you an extra $300.
True but it's a moot point because you pay for internal storage on the ipad, so out of the box my imac can handle my photographs without any additional cost but the ipad cannot
 
True but it's a moot point because you pay for internal storage on the ipad, so out of the box my imac can handle my photographs without any additional cost but the ipad cannot

I've had a 16GB iPad Air ($500) as my main computer for over a year now. Yes, I pay for iCloud storage: $12/yr.

Sorry, you're not going to win a cost battle of iPad vs Mac.
 
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Desktop/laptop/external storage is free?
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This is a limitation of MS Word for iOS, not the iPad itself. For more complex long form writing, you can use other apps like Scrivener.
I'm not saying that there isn't an app that can handle tables of contents, I was responding to your earlier post stating that Office for iPad is only lacking advanced layout features & unless you're doing those types of things, what are you actually missing? It seems like you're trying to conflate two separate issues here. The point is that Office for iPad, while a very nice set of apps, is not as feature rich as the Mac/Windows versions, and it is missing some features that people use a lot, not just 'advanced layout features.'
 
I'm not saying that there isn't an app that can handle tables of contents, I was responding to your earlier post stating that Office for iPad is only lacking advanced layout features & unless you're doing those types of things, what are you actually missing? It seems like you're trying to conflate two separate issues here. The point is that Office for iPad, while a very nice set of apps, is not as feature rich as the Mac/Windows versions, and it is missing some features that people use a lot, not just 'advanced layout features.'

To me an automated Table of Contents is an advanced feature, but whatever.

Should MS add it? Yes. Send them a feedback. And I concede your main point that if your work currently requires making TOCs in Word, then an iPad isn't a great choice.
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And you're not going to win the power/flexibility battle of the ipad vs mac

I'm not fighting that battle because it's silly. Choose the right tool for your needs.

But when someone says an iPad "can't" do xyz, and it can, I'm going to respond.
 
I've had a 16GB iPad Air ($500) as my main computer for over a year now.

Maybe you've posted this in another thread that I haven't seen, but if not, I'd like to know what your setup is (do you use an external keyboard, any other peripherals, etc? Eventually I'd love to get to essentially an iOS only work flow, and I think it will happen at some point. I did use an iPad as my main device for grad school, and the longer I used it, the faster I got at it (learned keyboard shortcuts, etc, just like on my Mac). Right now, it's not there for me, but it's getting close. I still use the iPad more than my Mac, but i'd be interested to hear (and maybe this is another thread completely) what peripherals you've found most useful in making the iPad your main computer, any tips/ tricks that you found most helpful, and/or any things you wish Apple would improve on the iPad to make it even better. I know the biggest productivity enhancements for me were the 4 finger swipe (this was before they came out with Split screen), as well as when Office came out, so that I could open one spreadsheet in Numbers and a second one in Excel, and swipe back & forth between the apps, effectively allowing me to have two spreadsheets open at the same time, something that isn't possible in any one app. (Same thing went for Powerpoint/ Keynote & Word/Pages).
 
In my personal life:

Photoshop
Lightroom
Maintaining my library of images

I am expecting that when ever the next iPad event is held that Photoshop and Lightroom will be presented by Adobe (at least my fingers are crossed that it will be) I'm not sure how I will be able to maintain my photo library to my liking. The photos app is not the solution for me.

In my work life:

SAS (statistics software that requires Windows sadly)
Pivot tables in Excel

** There is one other feature that I will never know until I go without my iMac. I really love sitting at my desk in the morning with a cup of coffee and using iMac to listen to music/read news/send emails etc.
 
Maybe you've posted this in another thread that I haven't seen, but if not, I'd like to know what your setup is (do you use an external keyboard, any other peripherals, etc? Eventually I'd love to get to essentially an iOS only work flow, and I think it will happen at some point. I did use an iPad as my main device for grad school, and the longer I used it, the faster I got at it (learned keyboard shortcuts, etc, just like on my Mac). Right now, it's not there for me, but it's getting close. I still use the iPad more than my Mac, but i'd be interested to hear (and maybe this is another thread completely) what peripherals you've found most useful in making the iPad your main computer...

My peripherals are: an old Apple Bluetooth keyboard, a $35 RavPower filehub wireless sd card reader, Bose QC35 headphones, and an Apple TV for screen mirroring (was free from AT&T).

Really the biggest hurdle I had, like many of you, was photography. Dedicated cameras and all their software are frozen in time circa 2006. Even brand new DSLRs are legacy devices that require legacy computers, no wonder they're all going out of business. I "solved" that problem by taking a good hard look at what and how I was shooting (jpeg only, mostly wide angle close-in stuff, very little action), and how I could transition out of using "real cameras", and Lr and Ps which I absolutely hated using anyway. I sold my cameras, and I'm 100% iPhone for photos. I use iCloud Photo Library. For me, it's been all positive, I shoot more and actually enjoy the whole process now. Editing in Snapseed, SKRWT, and other apps is fun and powerful.

Music was easy: Apple Music. Worth every penny.
 
My peripherals are: an old Apple Bluetooth keyboard, a $35 RavPower filehub wireless sd card reader, Bose QC35 headphones, and an Apple TV for screen mirroring (was free from AT&T).

Really the biggest hurdle I had, like many of you, was photography. Dedicated cameras and all their software are frozen in time circa 2006. Even brand new DSLRs are legacy devices that require legacy computers, no wonder they're all going out of business. I "solved" that problem by taking a good hard look at what and how I was shooting (jpeg only, mostly wide angle close-in stuff, very little action), and how I could transition out of using "real cameras", and Lr and Ps which I absolutely hated using anyway. I sold my cameras, and I'm 100% iPhone for photos. I use iCloud Photo Library. For me, it's been all positive, I shoot more and actually enjoy the whole process now. Editing in Snapseed, SKRWT, and other apps is fun and powerful.

Music was easy: Apple Music. Worth every penny.

Interesting. I don't do much photography, aside from the usual vacation pics, etc, and since I got an iPhone, I've used that as my primary camera, so I have very low photography needs, but I agree, iCloud Photo library, Apple Music (well, I use the $25/year apple music product, not sure what's it's actually called, where I upload from my Mac & have access on all my devices), DropBox & iCloud document syncing have really made the iPad more useful as a main device. Using the Apple TV to mirror screens is a pretty good idea. I have them on all the TV's in the house, but never use them to mirror my iPad, unless I'm showing the family a video or something like that. Makes a lot of sense.
 
Affinity Photo for the iPad when released will be a huge step forward for iPad productivity imho.
 
Fringe use case.

Yeah, since all your apps magically come from the AppStore, this “fringe“ use case is entirely irrelevant...

I'm pretty sure that all pure IT jobs are “fringe use cases“ in your book - because iOS sucks at each and everyone of them.
 
But when someone says an iPad "can't" do xyz, and it can, I'm going to respond.
Yet you seem to marginalize people's usage when they provide a reason on why an iPad is inferior. I agree picking the right tool for the job, but seeing you post, you seem to do a lot of logical gymnastics to justify that an iPad is useful in nearly every case where people state a desktop/laptop can do something better
 
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Yeah, since all your apps magically come from the AppStore, this “fringe“ use case is entirely irrelevant...

I'm pretty sure that all pure IT jobs are “fringe use cases“ in your book - because iOS sucks at each and everyone of them.

Wouldn't being able to run xcode vb sql scripts and other dev apps, compile, and load firmware onto test devices via wired ports, require a fundamentally different type of device and operating system than an iPad?

And more importantly, how would the changes needed impact the 99.9% of iPad purchasers who are not developers?
 
And more importantly, how would the changes needed impact the 99.9% of iPad purchasers who are not developers?

Easy solution is to have 2 versions of iOS. One for "Pros" and one for the general consumer. Hell it could even be an option to switch between them in settings with a warning (May make iPad less secure but you can now do XYZ) or something.

I would really like an iPad to replace my little Dell Inspiron 3000 netbook but at the moment its not an option. My netbook can still do the IT tasks I require for work such as scripting, putty, RDP, working with unusual file types, external monitors, ethernet (via dongle), AD management... and so on.
 
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My iPad Air 2's display recently shattered and, if I'm being overly dramatic, so did my life. :(

I put it on the back seat of my truck, and when I got home and opened the door, it fell out onto the concrete.

I still have an iPad mini 4 and a MacBook Pro, but neither are nearly as enjoyable to use at home. I'm at a crossroads. I can't decide whether to buy a new iPad now or wait for the next one. Obviously the smart thing to do would be to wait for the next one, but it's hard not having a fully intact 9.7" iPad right now.

The only thing I'm certain of is that the iPad is my main device and that's not changing anytime soon.
 
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Due to a lack of a wireless printer, I cannot print from it and I cannot upload photos to my hard drive directly. It handles the rest impeccably. To be honest, I don't care about the lack of those things and am very happy with what it currently provides.
 
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